About a week ago, Beast in Black released their newest album, Dark Connection. This is the band's third album. It's a bit more cyberpunky as opposed to fantasy themes compared to their previous albums but still has its fair share of, you guessed it, Berserk songs.

If you're wondering why this is posted here, that's because founder Anton Kabanen features anime and manga heavily in his themes. Directly in the press release for Dark Connection, Beast in Black calls out a variety of anime, including Armitage III, AD Police, Battle Angel Alita, and Bubblegum Crisis. If you recognize any of those names, congrats, you're old. This is the stuff I was brought up with. I still give Bubblegum Crisis' "Konya wa Hurricane" a whirl now and again. Battle Angel Alita has been part of my life for something like two-plus decades at this point.

Anton has featured Kentaro Miura's Berserk in his music over the past decade and this album is no exception. With the death of Kentaro Miura earlier this May, it is directly dedicated to his memory. The songs "Dark New World," "To the Last Drop of Blood," and "Broken Survivors" are all based on Berserk.

Best song off the album? By far, "To the Last Drop of Blood." It's a song about Guts' determination to fight. To the last minute, the last moment, the last drop of blood. This is Guts' mission ever since the eclipse. "Highway to Mars" is a close second and even includes a quote from Armitage III. "One Night in Tokyo" and "Moonlight Rendezvous" are both strong songs as well.

Tracklist is as follows:

1. Blade Runner
2. Bella Donna
3. Highway To Mars
4. Hardcore
5. One Night In Tokyo
6. Moonlight Rendezvous
7. Revengeance Machine
8. Dark New World
9. To The Last Drop Of Blood
10. Broken Survivors
11. My Dystopia
12. Battle Hymn (MANOWAR Cover)

Beast in Black will tour next year alongside Nightwish.  This is a long-awaited tour; it's been pushed back at least twice due to world events.  Dates as follows:

5/4/22 Toronto, ON (CA) - History
5/6/22 Montreal, QC (CA) - Mtelus
5/7/22 Lowell, MA - Tsongas Arena
5/8/22 New York, NY - Terminal 5
5/10/22 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
5/12/22 Chicago, IL - Radius
5/13/22 St Paul, MN - The Fillmore
5/15/22 Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom
5/18/22 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
5/20/22 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
5/21/22 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern

Do check out Beast in Black's other two albums, Berserker and From Hell with Love. There's plenty more Berserk on those albums too.